Abstract
IF all went well, and we hope it did, yesterday witnessed a grand gathering on the sandy shores of a dreary bay in the Midland Sea—that sea around which so much of history has been enacted, and in whose annals the gathering in question will not be the least noteworthy incident. The Suez Canal—that problem of many centuries—is to be opened in presence of emperors, kings, princes, and potentates; of eminent engineers, famous warriors, and distinguished savants invited from the East and from the West; and while the ceremonial lasts the very dreariest of the dreary wastes that here and there border the blue waters of the Mediterranean will be animated by a brilliant throng and the sound of music; and speeches will be made and healths will be drunk, and all present will join in wishing success to the memorable enterprise, which, for a time, is to furnish to Arab storytellers and Frankish newsmongers a topic to talk about.
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The Suez Canal . Nature 1, 81–83 (1869). https://doi.org/10.1038/001081e0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001081e0